In your NILE course, navigate to Course Tools, Rubrics.
There are two pre-existing templates in each NILE course; one for Undergraduate assignments and another for Postgraduate. This example will use the Undergraduate rubric for the remainder of this guide.
Access the contextual menu with the down arrow next to the rubric name and select Copy. Copying preserves the original for future use.
Select Edit next to the name of the newly created copy. The name will begin 'Copy of'.
Rename the rubric to something relevant so that you can easily locate it later. You may wish to use the module and assignment codes and use the format of module code + assignment name and year.
It is important to set the Rubric Type to Point Range so that a score is generated. The rubric template is set to 'No Points' by default, but there is currently a known issue with this rubric type and LearnTech no longer recommends the 'No Points' rubric within Blackboard Learn.
Change the Rubric Type to Point Range and follow the extra guidance in the link at the end of this section 'What grades (points) should I use in my rubric?' to assign values.
The levels of achievement for each column should be left as they are. The grading criteria can be edited to match the learning outcomes of the assignment. You may wish to break down any broader learning outcomes to smaller assessment criteria. If doing so, please relate each criterion back to the relevant learning outcome.
Access the contextual menu for each row heading and select Edit to make changes for each grading criterion. In the criteria column, you should substitute the placeholder Learning Outcome text with the full text of each of your Learning Outcomes. (Note. we do not recommend using letter codes from the module guide as the students will not understand these.)
Enter the point range for each cell, as chosen from the guidance 'What grades (points) should I use in my rubric?' linked to at the end of this section.
Optionally, enter text descriptors in all of the cells. For example, describe how a pass for learning outcome a) would be achieved. If you do not wish to pre-fill these cells, it is possible to add comments in the marking stage. If you do wish to pre-fill these cells, it is still possible to add further comments in the marking stage.
Use the Submit button to commit your changes. Completing the rubric may take some time, so consider periodically submitting the form to save your changes as you work.
You can add a Blackboard rubric to your Blackboard assessment with the assignment options, within the area 'Grading'
Click the button 'Add Rubric' and choose 'Select Rubric'.
(We recommend building the rubric before setting up the assignment as it can take some time)
Tick the box next to the correct rubric for this assignment and 'Submit'
When adding a rubric to your submission you will need to choose the correct option to make it visible to your students.
1. 'Yes (without rubric scores)' - students will see a blank rubric before submitting, and a blank rubric after the feedback has been released.
2. 'Yes (With Rubric Scores)' - students will see a rubric before the deadline and with the instructors selections after the feedback has been released.
3. 'After grading' - Students can not see a rubric before the submission but will view a blank rubric after the feedback has been released.
4. 'No' - students will not see the rubric.
After adding the rubric save the Blackboard assignment as you would normally.
When grading a Blackboard assignment if you have added a rubric, you will find this by clicking the small blue bar underneath the attempt (grade) box.
The blue bar will expand to show the rubric above the feedback to learner box.
When you click on the rubric title (as below) you will see the rubric displayed as buttons.
For a more detailed view you can click the expand rubric icon : 
and can then enter additional feedback.
Note in this example the rubric design has not been completed.
At the bottom of the rubric there is a 'Feedback to Learner' box. (highlighted below)
We suggest you enter your feedback in the grading box below rather than the rubric, as there is a risk duplication of your feedback if you use both. (the text in the rubric also feeds into this box but there is a delay)
Once you have made your rubric selections and added any additional feedback click 'Save'.